A Visit to Romana Restaurant in Burnaby

One day between Christmas and New Years my father-in-law invited our family out for lunch. We settled on Romana Restaurant on East Hastings (a couple blocks east of Willingdon Ave) after I remembered a Tweet-up I attended at Romana’s before Christmas. The owners of Romana have a two year old girl…who better to understand the challenges of having a kid or two with you for lunch?

Once inside our girls took turns climbing off and on their very patient grandfather’s lap.

While Grandpa was entertaining the girls we ordered lunch; spaghetti with a tomato sauce for the kids (we specifically said, for the kids), a Rustica Pizza, a chicken souvlaki and a kalamari lunch.

The spaghetti was cooked perfectly for the kids; the noodles were done past al dente so that our little ones could slurp them up and chew them easily. The sauce was lightly seasoned so that again, our little ones could enjoy it.

The twins loved the spaghetti. They also loved the garlic bread that came before the food arrived.

The kalamari and chicken souvlaki lunches both came with perfect rice, one of those boiled and then baked potatoes (which I LOVE) and a side of Greek Salad with a deliciously pungent black olive.

My Sweetheart appreciated the “flame grilled” flavour of the chicken. Personally, I was all over the Greek Salad and that potato.

When the kalamari plate arrived I was a little concerned at the size of the kalamari pieces. If the kitchen is not gentle the larger pieces can have the mouth feel of a chunk of rubber. I am happy to report that the kitchen at Romana’s knows how to be gentle with kalamari. It was sensational. The texture was firm but not the least bit rubbery. A perfect lunch plate.

And then the final dish we ordered (we were so hungry when we went in that I think we ordered twice as much food as we actually needed) arrived; a medium sized Rustica pizza. The Rustica is a veggie pizza loaded with olives, roasted eggplant, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. Essentially everything I would ask for on a pizza.

Unfortunately after eating from the souvlaki plate, the calamari plate, the girls spaghetti and the garlic bread, I was almost too full to eat. However, I can always rise to the occasion and I managed to try one piece. Pizza love. The best part of being too full to eat the Rustica pizza was that we got to take the leftovers home and I always enjoy a slice of cold pizza the next day. When I did eat the pizza the next day the flavours had developed more completely and I am tempted to say that it was even better the following day.

After the meal was done we were very pleased to see that our girls had barely made a mess of the floor around our table. We see it as a good sign that the girls want to eat the food rather than throw it on the floor.

The best part for our girls though, the owner’s daughter leaves some of her toys at the restaurant for the time when she visits. Our girls appreciated that.

Romana Restaurant has been in business in the same location since 1973. After having lunch there, I can clearly see why they have been successful for so long. We most definitely return to Romana Restaurant.

Romana Restaurant is located at 4660 E Hastings Street, Burnaby. You can also phone them at 604-298-7252.

Disclosure; I have received no incentive or financial reward for writing this blog entry. My father-in-law did kindly pay for our lunch and drinks. I am not obligated nor expected to write this blog entry about Romana Restaurant. In any blog post I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions or concerns, contact me at editor@theleftcoast.ca